Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-14
BURIED ALIVE.
A Quarter OF q Mile Below the
Earth's Surface.
Thrilling Experience OF Four Men In .
Flooded Silver Mine-Nothing but
lit of Machinery Between
Them and Death.

"A man with big white hat, a fan-
mel shirt and heavy mountain suit of
clothes on, sat in the reading-room of
McCoy's Hotel yesterday morning.
He was a restless kind of man. He
wandered to the newspaper files,
TOamed over to the ice-water tank,
over to the cigar-stand and finally he
sat down and began to smoke. Some
thing in his appearance attracted the
attention of another man who hap
pened in and he walked up to the first
individual and said: Your name is
Charley Goatch, if mistake not. You
were once in Virginia City. You
worked in the SOuthend mines, didn't
you?" The man rose and indicated
with nod of the head that his ques-
TONER was right
Mr.. Goatch is man of fifty or more.
He had worked in the Bonanza mines
for years and was known as faithful
servant at four dollars day for eight
hours work three eight-hour shifts.
The man who had interrupted his
reverie was recognized as having been
connected with the Virginia City
papers, and the two sat down for a
chat Mr.. Gcatch said: you know
when the Bonanza began to peter
well, then l went down to work for
Superintendent Boyle, at the Alta
That's away down. you know. below
Gold Hill / saw the ITibasne's story
about that old Mammoth Cave in Ken
lucky. OF course it's wonder. /
never was in it, although I've lived
half my life in caves; but if the man
who wrote the story would come
to me l could tell a story that
would make his hair grayer than
mine. You remember the story of
the Alta mine. You were there"
.'Great Scott! were you one of those
four men?" was asked.
Il was. Didn't you know it? LOOK
at my harp"
The miner was indeed prematurely
gray.
"You couldn't get me into the Mann
moth or any other cave now" he said.
Il wouldn't 60 into mine for mil
lion dollars unless could see a bucket
and rope"
And then the miner told his story.
In 1873 he was working in the Alta
Mine, at Virgins City, New. The nine
was an assessment proposition that
is. it was worked by contributions of
stockholders, enforced. of course, by
law. Not dollar of bullion had ever
come out, yet assessments had sent the
shaft down 1850 feet and put up a
plant in machinery worth $3.50, 900.
Drifts were run 100 feet to tap the
ledge, and Mt each of those stations
was commodiOus chamber. 1.-The Alta
Mine was always full of water" said
the miner. "She was the wettest thing
l ever worked in. The big pump. that
cost $3.50, 900. had more than she could
do. without driving, to keep the water
down 1t was in May, 1873. that a
blast down on tho 1850 Embossed a
water pocket that drove everybody
to the cages They rushed up
the shaft and were all right.
But nobody seemed to re-
member little shift of foul
men at work in south cross-cut from
the 1,65O-level. We was drivin' in to
catch the foot wall of the ledge and to
do that we ran half way upraise. I'll
A@ just draw you little
mp sketch here to show
~ what I'm coming at.
!: ! !: !: !: !. !: !;
N ~ you see the shaft is
N n perpen dicular 1,75O
W " feet down. At the
W 1@ 1850 station our cross
~ ", cut goes of on an up
" - IMzGE1